Figured I'd share this for any Genesis fans that might be interested! El Viento and Sol-Deace are being re-released on the Genesis by Retro-Bit, in a similar manner that the Valis series was earlier this year.
Both titles sell for a good amount on the resale market, so this is another chance to own physical copies of each game without breaking the bank. I was impressed with the quality of previous Retro-Bit releases, so I think I'll hop in on these as well. It's awesome to see 16-bit games still being released nowadays.
The pre-order window for both games are open until the end of July. And it seems that CastleMania and other retailers usually have copies available for those that miss the pre-order.
Now that I think about it, I've never seen a copy of that game while out and about either.
That's amazing you had a pirated cart of that game back in the day. I also never saw pirated or bootleg carts in my area. I feel like that was a lot more prevalent during the 32-bit era when CDs were in use.
What's the story behind that cart? Do you remember where you got it from?
I have a really beat up copy of El Viento that I bought years ago at a retro store for something like $7. The game had a mediocre reputation at the time (and maybe still does), so it seemed like the appropriate price for something I might not be that into. I normally prefer my games in good condition, but I feel like something about the ratty label on this cart gives it a lot of character.
@Note: I found it at a pawn shop in Vancouver for $5 many years ago. It was the Japanese release and had a label printed with an old inkjet printer on sticker paper. I assumed because of the region that it had previously been a part of a Chinese or Japanese college student's collection as there is a large portion of the population there from those countries. It's a great looking game, but I'm not very good at it. It reminds me of European Amiga platformers.
ZRofel, that's cool you also found the game for cheap at a retro store back then. I'm of a similar mindset, where I prefer my games to be in good condition, but in the late 90s and early 2000s I would make exceptions just because I had a tougher time coming across older games in general.
Anapan, that's interesting about that cart and the fact it could've been from a foreign student's collection! Really cool find, IMO. Are there any specific European Amiga platformers it seems similar to? I'm admittedly not familiar with many games on the Amiga.
...it's really cool that Retro-Bit has been doing these official re-releases. A local shop has a CIB copy of Sol-Deace in stock and I was surprised to see how much it goes for, especially w/the arguably better Sol-Feace being so common. I've only come across El Viento once at Too Many Games and even w/o the convention tax applied it was super pricey. All that said, I jumped on these pre-orders and I really can't wait to try out El Viento. Ever since I originally found out about the through EGM it was game I've always wanted to give a go.
Yeah, I agree that it's awesome to see these official re-releases. I haven't seen either game in the wild, but I was aware that are both fetch a premium nowadays.
In regard to the Retro-Bit release, I kinda regret not getting the Toaplan collection re-release a few years ago. I thought to myself at the time that I would eventually track down original copies, but I still don't own the games. And since I'm not great at shooters, it's hard to for me to justify paying the going rate for them. Not sure what I was thinking at the time. Lol.
Glad you'll be able to enjoy these as well, Syndicate! I'm looking forward to playing them on real hardware.
